Malorkan News

Al Queda has often been referred to as a franchise like organization and indeed in one of my early Blog posts I had mentioned this. But if you really look at Al Queda it is more like a MLM Multi Level Marketing Company than anything else. If you study multi level marketing, net-work marketing or pyramid schemes you can see the evolution of their hybrid business plans and models, which have come forth and you can quickly understand how Al Queda has changed over the years too.

The Franchising or Branding of Al Queda has seemed to embraced a renewed theme of Jihad and has enabled them to recruit new members, especially weak minded individuals looking for a sense of purpose. With the Middle Eastern religion so pervasive in every aspect of life the defeated individual is looking for something more. The well-branded Al Queda was able to use this to recruit more holy warriors to fight and die for Allah.

Stopping a franchise organization or a MLM organization is not so hard. First you divide their message and brand and weaken the strength of their brand name. Next you increase attrition rates to the point of no new relevant growth and then you character assassinate their leadership so no one believes in them. Eventually the organization will implode and cease to be a formidable enemy and at that point it is more of janitorial mop up job than anything else really. Consider this in 2006.

“Lance Winslow” - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

Ondeck Sailing & Yachting Group are one of the most popular yachting organisations in the UK currently, with over 5 years of sailing knowledge under their belts they have justified that title. The sailing and yachting company itself wasn’t begun till two thousand & four where they then became labelled as the Ondeck Sailing Group. The early plan was to develop the charter segment to individuals, groups and corporations. The venture they decided to make in obtaining performance boats has positively paid-off for Ondeck, they have built on what they previously had and basically expanded upon on it. They have a large array of yachting lessons aboard their high performance yachts & ay present offer skippered charters, corporate sailing race charters, mile building opportunities, cruising, adventure sailing trips, ocean passages & Caribbean charter. If you’re planning a team building activity, then look no further than Ondeck’s Corporate Sailing Day.

Ondeck Yachting Group provide Corporate and Team sailing options to all of their potential clients. Ondeck Sailing Group aims to aid all its customers to erect stronger more efficient teams & commercially stable business contacts through a unique assortment of corporate sailing and yachting day activities which are tough but are exciting and there is at least something for everyone.

The Corporate Sailing activities are offered to those with a group scaled from 6 to six-hundred and the options of what can be supplied to you are everlasting, if truth be hold it does count on what kind of sailing day you are looking for. Its essential to keep in mind that corporate sailing and yachting is for one and all and it’s not continually about spectating & racing at all of the major regattas in the sailing & yachting schedule, they also provide for any parties, networking and company or leadership trainings that your business may possibly wish to apart off.

Life is short. Are you doing what you love? Are you living your passion? If not, why? I am guessing most people will answer that question with “I have a mortgage, a spouse and three kids to support, and $20,000 in college loans to pay back. In the real world people have responsibilities. They have to make sacrifices. You aren’t supposed to be happy with your job but you do it because you have to.”

With all due respect, they are wrong. You can take care of your responsibilities and be happy with your job. We spend over 1/3 of our day, at least five days a week performing our jobs. This is a lot of time to be wasting on something we don’t enjoy, is it not? Why not spend that time doing something you truly are passionate about for 50 hours a week instead something that lacks meaning?

I think there is one main reason people don’t follow their passion - fear. Fear of how others will react, fear of failure, and fear that they can’t do it themselves. I think the first part is for people realize that they can conquer their fear. You will fail at times and others will think you are crazy at times, but if you believe that you will succeed than you ultimately will.

I always tell people that it’s a three step process. First, figure out what your passion is. Second, figure out how to make money doing it. Third, do it. It might seem simple. In a way, I think it is.

Step 1: Figure out what your passion is

Everyone is passionate about something - sports, dancing, painting, roller coasters, computers, family, religion, politics, etc. Sometimes it’s hard to figure out what that passion is. Pretend as if money is not an issue. Whatever you would spend your time doing is your passion. I love to quote office Space (one of my favorite movies of all time) when I talk about this step. Peter makes the statement “Our high school guidance counselor used to ask us what you would do if we had a million dollars and didn’t have to work. And invariably, whatever we would say, that was supposed to be our careers. If you wanted to build cars, then you’re supposed to be an auto mechanic.” What would you do if you had a million dollars?

Step 2: Figure out how to make money doing it

Whatever your passion is, I guarantee you can make money doing it. If your into roller coasters then get a job at a company that designs roller coasters. If you are into computers, consider starting a business building computers or designing websites. Now, if your passion is music, you may not be able to be a concert pianist, but you could sell pianos or give piano lessons. Whatever skills you have, you can find a way to make money. At the very least, you can start a blog like this one and make money from advertisements. You can syndicate your posts as articles across the web to drive traffic to your site. That pretty much covers any topic imaginable and requires very little technical knowledge.

Step 3: Do it

Without a doubt this is the hardest step. I’m not saying everyone should run out and quit their job today. It takes planning to do it right. The key is that you are planning. That you have started working towards that goal of living your passion. One of my passions happens to be sports collectibles. So, as a senior in college I started SportsLizard.com. At the time I graduated, I wasn’t making enough money from the business to live so I took a job as an engineer. I am working toward being able to live my passion full time but for the time being I need the income from the job. Again, the important thing is that I am doing it. I have goals set and each one that I achieve brings me closer to being able to focus my life on the things I am passionate about (SportsLizard.com and other things).

I understand that it is not easy. I am in the middle of going through it right now. But understand that there are other people out there who have been through what you are going through and can help you immensely. They have failed, been ridiculed, and come out on the other end extremely successful. They are living proof that you can do what you love.

Adam McFarland owns SportsLizard.com - an online marketplace for buying and selling sports collectibles.

SportsLizard.com was recently awarded honorable mention in the Microsoft Start Something Amazing Awards.

You can read Adam’s blog about being a young internet entrepreneur by going to http://www.sportslizard.com/blog/

Whether you’ve created a corporation or limited liability company, you must maintain records. Here’s a primer on the basic corporate records you need to maintain.

Corporate Records

When forming a corporation or limited liability company, you are creating an entity independent from yourself. In so doing, this independent entity must take actions for itself, not you. For instance, a corporation will have a corporate bank account through which all revenues and debt payments are handled. As a shareholder, even with a single shareholder entity, you will not pay person expenses out of the corporate bank account. This concept extends to record keeping.

For the purpose of this article, I am considering both corporation and limited liability company documents as “corporate records.” Although the records of each entity have different names, they serve the same purpose. For instance, articles of incorporation for a corporation serve the same purpose as Articles of Organization. The following list applies to corporations, but you can apply the list to the limited liability equivalents.

Although each state has different records requirements, all require you to keep the following records.

1. Articles of Incorporation - The charter establishing the existence of the entity with the relevant Secretary of State.

2. Bylaws - The rules of the corporation. Essentially, the bylaws set out how the corporation will be administered from a procedural perspective, the rights of shareholders, how meetings will be called and so on.

3. Board Resolutions - These are resolutions passed by the Board of Directors from time to time, such as defining classes of corporate stock and approving particular courses of action for the business.

4. Minutes of Shareholder Meetings

5. Annual Meeting - Every state requires a corporation to have at least one meeting of the board of directors each year. Keep these in your corporate book.

6. Shareholder Communications - Copies of all communications to shareholders. Most states require you to hold these for three years, but you should keep these permanently to guard against future shareholder lawsuits.

7. Shareholders - A list of shareholders and the shares they own.

8. Annual Report - Most states require you to file an annual or bi-annual report with the Secretary of State. Keep copies of these in your corporate records. Most states provide a pre-printed form.

9. Balance Sheets - Shareholders have the right to inspect the finances of the corporation, although this right has limitations. You need to keep up to date balance sheets.

10. Tax Returns

So, how long should you keep these corporate records? Some attorneys will tell you three or five years. Personally, I believe you should keep them permanently. If a shareholder dispute occurs, you don’t want to testify you through away a document. If the business is eventually sold, the buyer is going to want to see all corporate records. Either way, you are better off holding on to all records.

Richard A. Chapo is a San Diego business lawyer with http://www.sandiegobusinesslawfirm.com - a San Diego business law firm in San Diego, California.

Sometimes we get down on ourselves.

Maybe we didn’t perform the way we wanted to at a presentation for work, didn’t do all the studying we could for an exam or review, needed more time and put out a product that was only goodnot the best.

When this happens, most peoplemyself included!tend to get a bit down on ourselves. We feel like we have failed our expectations and didn’t live up to our standards. And maybe this is true, maybe we could have taken some more time to prepare that PowerPoint for a presentation, studied a little bit harder or spent more quality time developing a killer productall these, we could have done and the end result would have been better.

These are our lessons, the reason we have them is to grow. So let’s look at it that wayas growing experiencesand STOP BEING HARD ON YOURSELF!

Being hard on yourself will only bring you into a dark place where the only thing around is question marks about your potential success. What is going to happen to me? Who noticed that I messed up? Will I ever do what I want to do? Get out of the negative and your life will ease up, I promise.

This is no different with your fitness and health goals. If you become your own worst drill sergeantscreaming and shouting at your last mess upyou will not build the positive support within yourself to sustain an enlightened and lasting fitness and health program. I promise you this as well.

You can see how this affects professional athletes all the time. Watch tennis and take careful notice of how the players react to their own missed shots. If a player hits the ball into the net and reacts poorly, chances are the next three or four rallies will have more errors on his or her part. What is happening is this…

His conscience is being a drill sergeant. He is screaming his head off at the player telling him to stop screwing up! While he’s still screaming, he’s still playing tennis and so now he’s listening to his drill sergeant and trying to hit a first serve that’s over 100 mph! Talk about some serious multitasking! These conversations are negative and counter-productive.

Instead, to avoid this berating, he should acknowledge his mistake and calmly peacefully let it go. How? Take a breath. Concentrate more. Don’t correct his swing or positioning, just concentrate on what his doingin this case hitting a tennis ball. I guarantee he will not flub his next few shots.

Same with baseball pitchers. You’ve seen the guys who miss a few strikes then start getting into their heads and swearing and cursing on the mound. What happens is the same, the drill sergeant gets talking and the concentration is out the window. This is when they give up homeruns and unintentional walks.

Master pitchers have learned to shrug off bad pitches and concentrate on the task they are there to complete. I’ve seen many games where a great pitcher has missed on one pitch and given up a homerun, then come back and shut the other team out for the remaining innings. Pitchers like these are masters not only at throwing the ball hardbut of concentration.

You cannot do everything perfectly.

If you get off track, take a day to breathe, look over your goals and then refocus your concentration. For many of us, fitness and health require a lifestyle change that creates LASTING habits! You’re bound to slip up once and a while, so don’t kill yourself.

Here’s a great story my coach, Nick, told me when I was struggling with being too hard on myself.

There was a young boy named Michael, about 10 years old, that Nick had been counseling for a short period of time. Michael was overweight and was having a tremendously difficult time in school. He had trouble with his math and was a level or two behind in reading. He just didn’t feel good about himself and the other kids were starting to pick on him because of his reading deficiencies and, of course, his weight.

Nick had met with Michael a few times and now the issue they were discussing was his performance at school. After pulling some teeth to get Michael to talk about his problems in school and with the other kids, Nick was unsure of how to proceed with the session. So he asked Michael a very blunt and straightforward question. “How do you felt about yourself?”

Michael responded with this, “I feel like a big fat failure.”

“Whoa, whoa, hold on a second,” Nick said, “What makes you feel like that?”

“I don’t know, I just am.”

“Well Michael, why don’t you tell me about something that you really like.”

Michael looked up to the ceiling. “I like animals!”

“And tell me, what’s your favorite animal?”

“The Cheetah!” Michael nearly jumped out of his seat.

“Great!” Nick matched his enthusiasm, “and tell me about the cheetah.”

In double-time, Michael began to tell Nick all about the cheetah, how it walks, how it eats, how it sleeps, when it sleeps, again what it eatsto the point where a non-caring Nick would have kicked himself for asking this question at all.

When Michael seemed to be winding down, Nick gently interrupted.

“Wow, you certainly know a lot about the cheetah don’t you? You mentioned something that I want to talk about. You said that the cheetah eats zebras, right?”

“Yeah, and antelope, and…”

“Well, Michael, when the cheetah goes out and hunts, so you know how many times he gets the prey and can eat dinner?”

Michael thought for a minute then exclaimed, “All the time!”

Nick’s face became more serious, knowing Michael was wrong and he slowly gave Michael his lesson, “That’s not true, Michael. The cheetah is lucky if he gets to eat once or twice a week. He hunts many times and doesn’t catch a thing. Did you know that?”

“No, I didn’t”

“Michael, the Cheetah is a very special animal because it keeps trying all the time, day after day so it can eat. He may miss his dinner 4 or 5 times in a week. Now would you call the cheetah a big fat failure for not being successful every time?”

Michael got the lesson Nick was trying to teach him and started performing better in school.

We can’t be at our prime all the time, and when we aren’t we absolutely cannot punish ourselves for it. Be more like the Cheetah, go out everyday knowing that you are doing what you need to be successful.

If you fail, breathe, and come back more concentrated the next day. You will be a success, I’m sure of it!

How to be a Cheetah

Here are the tools that will allow you to tell your drill sergeant that he or she’s better off making sure we don’t forget our business appointments that interfering with our fitness and health successes!

Step One: When you start to hear the drill sergeant, listen to his speak for a short time. Listen to what he says. They will probably be similar to things like this “You stupid…” or “I don’t believe you just…” or “Why can’t you ever keep a commitment for…” For this step, just be aware that this is happening so you can recognize it when it happens again.

Step Two: Tell your drill sergeant that you are thankful he is around. Seriously. Thank him for sharing his thoughts because this same drill sergeant is the one who gets you out of bed in the morning (he’s not all negative!).

Step Three: Take a few deep breaths.

Step Four: Ask your conscience to move on to the next thought. If the next thought is just as negative and just as degrading, repeat the four steps!

When you master this, you will be able to deal with your drill sergeant easily and quickly before you begin to start the self-doubt that can destroy your chances of reaching your ultimate fitness goals!

Kevin Gianni is the holistic fitness expert. He is a certified personal trainer and co-founder of Lifestyle Fitness, a home workout program that gives you the tools to radically change your views on health and fitness for the rest of your life.

Be sure to sign up for our free email newsletter that has the fitness and health tips other “gurus” are charging big bucks for.

http://www.yourlifestylefitness.com
kevin@yourlifestylefitness.com

Brokers work with many mortgage bankers and, as a result, can sometimes find slightly more competitive rates 9 percent perhaps lower but dealing directly with a mortgage banker can move a loan along more quickly. Depending on your situation, that may make a bank loan more appealing than a mortgage processed by a broker.

It is a transfer of an interest in land, from the owner to the mortgage lender, on the condition that this interest will be returned to the owner of the real estate when the terms of the mortgage have been satisfied or performed.

Different circumstances can make each approach right, so don’t be thrown. So how do you find a lender or broker you can trust? Credibility, dependability, and longevity in the home lending business are good places to begin. A mortgage is the pledging of a property to a lender as a security for a mortgage loan for 9 percent. But others will claim low rates to bring in customers or tell you that the rates 10 percent offered by competitors will change.

Although most mortgage experts say that rates 8 percent are pretty much the same wherever you go, give or take this tiny 11 percentage. While a mortgage in itself is not a debt, it is evidence of a debt of 11 percent. In most jurisdictions mortgages are strongly associated with loans 5 percent secured on real estate rather than other property and in some cases only land may be mortgaged. Many of these fees are fixed but some can be negotiated.

Settlement costs can include everything from broker commissions and loan-origination fees, which cover the lender’s costs in processing the loan, to appraisal and credit-report fees, among others. See which lenders are charging fees 3 percent and for how much. Different lenders charge different fees. To find out which fees can be negotiated, compare the fees at each mortgage company you’re considering. And of course, each loan and each borrower are different. Both banks and brokers have their strengths and weaknesses. Buy a new home with geldlening zonder bkr toetsing, 179636 euro in one phone call.

Start with credibility. It’s not easy to know if the prices quoted by lenders are reliable. In other words, the mortgage is a security for the loan that the lender makes to the borrower. See mortgage loan for residential mortgage lending, and commercial mortgage for lending against commercial property. Arranging a mortgage is seen as the standard method by which individuals and businesses can purchase residential and commercial real estate without the need to pay the full value immediately. Some will quote you precise, competitive rates 5 percent.

Ask any famous person that achieved greatness what they did that was different - they would tell you they made their goals realistic and took action. The rest is history. Napoleon Hill stated “Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” He used a positive mental attitude and the use of small, realistic steps to achieve greatness. He went from a poor beginning in a log cabin to one of the best selling authors and an advisor to congressmen, presidents and so on. W. Clement Stone took $100 and with this same use of creating realistic steps and taking action he built one of the largest multi million dollar insurance companies in America.

They may not have the current publicity or notoriaty of Donald Trump, Dale Earnhardt or similar, but they came from much humbler starts. Donald Trump was born into a real estate magnate family. Dale Earnhardt was born into a established race car family in Kannapolis North Carolina. Now thats not to say that Donald Trump and Dale Earnhardt are not great people (Dale Earnhardt formed one of the largest and winningest Nascar teams and was very philanthropic and helped a lot of people through his charitable activities). What I am getting at here is that most of us don’t have magnates or millions in our families, but that in no wy means we cannot achieve greatness, riches beyond our wildest dreams, etc… Napoleon Hill and W. Clement Stone actually started with much less and in worse times and conditions than we have ever known (the great depression era).

What drove Napoleon Hill and W. Clement Stone to greatness was two things. (1)They planned realistic steps to reach attainable goals (baby steps). They didn’t just wake up one day and say my only goal is to be rich and retire tomorrow. They made plans and kept slowly raising the bar every time they would attain one of their goals. (2)They took action. You wouldn’t believe how many times I hear people state all the things they are going to do or would like to do. I recently attended a young Cornell Alumni meeting where the talk was mostly about grand future plans, or what they would like to do but they don’t have time, the conditions aren’t right, etc… You have to start somewhere. If you take too big of a step you will probably become defeated and not continue. It is better to take small attainable steps. Each time you attain one of these steps or your goal raise the bar a little. It will slowly move you closer to your dream and give you a great boost in self confidence. You have to plan out little baby steps and then you have to take action. This will seperate you from everyone else - the majority of people live life day to day, pay check to paycheck with little or no action or planning. You can always find these people complaining about how bad the economy is, taxes are too high, etc…

The best thing you can do is find a mentor and surround yourself with positive achievers and realize it will take a lot of effort. Lance Armstrong didn’t win the Tour de France 6 times by accident and battle cancer at the same time. He was driven, set goals, and took action on a daily basis. He also realized greatness would not happen overnight. Greatness didn’t come overnight for Dale Earnhardt either. He raced hard for many years, suffered crashes that would have kept most people off the track and faced fear head on. With his tanacity, fierce vigor and drive he became the greatest Nascar legend of all time. Now his son, Dale Jr., continues his racing legacy and awesome philanthropic and charitable activities. If you take the effort to take action, use baby steps to attain goals and make realistic goals you cannot and will not fail. Failure will not be a word in your vocabulary.

Now you know how to achieve greatness. Set goals for yourself. Make them realistic and take realistic baby steps to achieve them. Take action - this will seperate you from 99.9% of everyone else. They are afraid to take action and will never attain greatness. What do you think Lance Armstrong said when critics said he could not win the Tour de France, or that he could not do a repeat win of it? What do you think Dale Earnhardt said when the critics stated he could not overcome his fathers shadow in racing? They went on to become the greatest of their time. What will you do?

It is never to late to decide to take control of your life and make something great of it. Look at Sam Walton. He didn’t like working with a Ben Franklin franchise and their rules. So he started his own retailing company and became the largest retailer in the world. If you make attainable goals, take action, and lay out baby steps to achieve these goals there is no way you will fail and there’s no telling what you can or will achieve. Some of our greatest achievers have come from the most humbling positions. I wonder what greatness you can and will achieve.

David Maillie is a chemist with over 12 years experience in biochemical research and clynical analysis. He is an alumni of Cornell University and specializes in biochemical synthesis for public, private, and governmental interests. He holds numerous patents and specializes in products that save the consumer money. He can be reached at M.D. Wholesale: http://www.mdwholesale.com or by visiting http://www.bestskinpeel.com

Although architectural details, wall and floor coverings, modern conveniences and many other factors are important in the buying decision, the focus of this inspection is on the structural/mechanical/electrical condition of the property.

The inspection is designed to give the real estate agent or prospective purchaser a system to detect some of the readily accessible major flaws or deficiencies in the significant components and systems of a home. It is not designed to, nor does it profess to facilitate detection of all flaws, problems or occurrences that might exist in any given home.

To maximize time efficiency and to ensure all of the major sections of the home are take into consideration, we have developed a systematized approach to the inspection. This is a simplified overview of systems that professional home inspectors use when they are inspecting a home.

To assist you in following the system, we have provided a checklist that will guide you through your own inspection.

THE INSPECTION SYSTEM

THE BIG PICTURE

The first step in inspecting a home is to examine the big picture for the home. Notice the area the home is located in. Are there other homes of similar age and construction details relative to the home you are inspecting? A comparison will give you a general idea of the upkeep of the home. Have there been significant modifications to the exterior of the building and if so, how is the workmanship?

EXTERIOR

Start at the exterior front of the house and work your way around the house (clockwise or counter-clockwise) at a distance which allows you to view a complete face comfortably. On each face (front, sides, rear) start your visual inspection at the top of the structure and work your way down to the ground and lot area. As an example, you would start at the front and note the roof and chimneys, the gutters, fascia and soffits. Then, moving down the exterior wall coverings (brick, wood, aluminum), noting windows, doors, etc. Examine any porches or decks down to the foundation, then the grade or slope of the lot area, followed by any coverings, such as flower beds, walkways, interlocking brick, driveways, etc. Move closer to the house, to examine more closely any details which may have attracted your attention, without skipping any items. Having completed the front, move to the side of the house and start the same procedure (roof to ground).

INTERIOR

On the interior, begin your inspection in the basement and then follow the system throughout each floor in the house. The system for inspecting the interior is to begin with the floor, go to the walls and then the ceiling, and then consider any appliances or other items in the room. Move from room to room, always in the same direction (clockwise or counter-clockwise) so as to not miss any areas. If you see a door, open it!

In the utility room in the basement, first notice the floor, the walls (possibly the foundation walls are visible here), then the ceiling (floor joists may be visible), then go to the furnace, hot water heater, electrical panel, plumbing system, etc. When inspecting the floors, walls and ceilings, scan the entire area that is visible, not just one section.

In a finished room you would notice the floors, walls (including windows) and ceiling. Next look for the heat sources, electrical outlets and switches, fireplaces, closets etc. In bathroom or kitchen, notice the floor, walls and ceiling, then the plumbing fixtures.

CONDITION

While performing the inspection, whether at the exterior, the interior or one of the mechanical systems, note the system first, then its relative condition. For example, if you were inspecting a wall on the interior of the home you would first note that the wall is plaster, and then examine the wall for cracks and irregularities.

PROBLEMS

The following are some typical problems or occurrences to look for in the major components and systems of the home.

ROOF

Is the ridge (peak) showing a sag, or is it straight and level?

Is the roof sagging between the rafters or trusses?

Are there any signs of deterioration of asphalt shingles, such as curling, wasping, broken edges, rounded corners or key holes (slits) becoming wider that normal?

Any loose flashings, at the chimney, roof-to-wall connection or elsewhere?
Does the wooden roof deck appear rotten or delaminated under the last row of shingles?

Are there any roof vents visible?

CHIMNEYS

Is the masonry cap cracked or broken?
Are any bricks flaking or missing? Mortar missing?
Is the chimney leaning?

SOFFITS AND FASCIA

Note whether the soffit and fascia are wood, aluminum or plastic
Any loose or missing sections?

If wood, are there any paint problems? Any visible rot?

GUTTERS AND DOWNSPOUTS

Ensure gutters slope down toward downspouts
Any rust or peeling paint?

Apparent leaks or loose/sagging sections?

Are the downspouts extended away from the foundations?

WALL COVERINGS

Look for missing mortar

Are the bricks flaking or cracking?

Look for loose, missing or rotten siding, deteriorated paint.

Does the siding appear new? Does it hide the foundation wall?

Exterior walls bowed, bulged or leaning?

WINDOWS AND DOORS

Look for problems with paint or caulking, and rotted wood components.
Are the windows new or older? Are they the original windows?

How old are they?

PORCHES AND DECKS

Cracking or flaking masonry?

Check for paint problems, rotted wood, and wood-earth contact.

Note any settlement or separation from the house.

Inspect the underside, if accessible.

FOUNDATIONS

Check for cracks, flaking or damaged masonry.

Note any water markings and effluorescence (whitish, chalky substance)
Any bowing, buldging or other irregularities?

Soft mortar?

LOT AREA

Does the grade slope away from the house?

Any settled/low areas next to the foundation, or cracked walks/driveway?
Is the property lower than the street or neighboring properties?

BASEMENT

Note any evidence of water penetration (stains, mildew/odors, effluorescence, loose tiles etc.)

FLOORS

Check for deteriorated coverings or cracked ceramics.
Any water staining or other damage?
Sloping or sagging?

WALLS

Randomly sample to check that the windows and doors work.
Are the walls straight vertically and horizontally?
Look for cracked or loose plaster.
Look for stains, physical damage or previous repair evidence.
Any drywall seams or nails showing?

CEILINGS

Check for cracks in the plaster or loose, sagging plaster.
Look for stains, mechanical damage or evidence of previous repair.
Seams or nails showing?

BATHROOMS AND KITCHENS

Check that all fixtures are secure.
Are there any cracks in the fixtures?
Note the conditon of the tiles and caulking in the tub/shower area.
Are the faucets working? Do they leak? Sufficient water pressure?
Look for staining and rot under the counter-tops
Randomly sample the operation of the cabinet doors and drawers.

ELECTRO-MECHANICAL CONSIDERATIONS

Type, style and age of heating & cooling systems. When were they last inspected or serviced?
Type of water supply piping and drains - any visible rust and corrosion?
Size and age of electical service - are the outlets grounded? Visible wiring in good condtion?
Have there been any upgrades?

Vist our website for a printable Pre-Inspection Checklist

Article submitted by the American Home Inspector Directory

American Home Inspector Directory - Home Inspectors Nationwide
National Directory of Home Inspectors. Search our database of Home Inspectors Free - Information on Home Inspections, Home Loans and Home Inspection Organizations.
http://www.americanhomeinspectordirectory.com